Small steps to improve the home
Sometime during a weak moment (I was on vacation), the grungy state of two radiators at home (out of sight, out of mind), took on an importance. It didn’t matter that the radiators had been serving us, day and night, all year long for over two decades. They didn’t look good. In my lessened state of mind, I agreed that this was a problem, somewhat less than world hunger or war between the states, but one that I would resolve.
So here we are. Today I’ve moved a toilet to a new location, found all the necessary screwdrivers, photographed the scene for posterity and then removed two functional baseboard heaters, the better to sand them into submission. Rust isn’t evil. In fact, it simply confirms that oxygen is present and doesn’t require fancy seed diets (think of canaries). Neil Young has a great album with Rust in the title. Even wheat and apples can rust. My two radiators did this with just a little assistance from their neighbours, the toilet reservoirs that were perched overhead in the manner of leaky vultures. In passing, did the genius that placed those two metal contraptions ever believe that anyone else would want to move them? I didn’t think so.
Somewhere in the basement I found an orbital sander that I’d purchased when I was a brand new homeowner, full of visions of ongoing renovation to better our environment. Ditto for a package of sandpaper which soon was cut into appropriately sized strips. Then out to the front step for a session of noisemaking. I actually drowned out the weedwhacker from two doors down.
To be fair, getting these things clean would probably require an acid bath and a round with a commercial sandblaster, but I was less exigent. My trip to a local hardware store gave me a set of commemorative coins from the mint and a can of enamel in one of those colours I imagine as between white and brown, but not really dark, sort of like a tan, but maybe not… the girl assured me that it would work, and I believe anyone who can decipher paint codes.
Enamel is slow to dry. Really slow. I watched for a while, but then I got hungry. Maybe tomorrow I can apply a second coat, and sometime during the weekend reinstall my heaters. The toilet has also been put back in its usual location (I don’t think that a floating bowl is anything to test in a home where the boys go to breweries). My wax ring is ready for the final countdown.
After all is said and done, will anything be better?
